Family medicine’s stress test

[摘要] That the COVID-19 pandemic was a stress test toCanada’s health care system goes without saying,as reports of long wait times for elective surgeries,1delays in cancer diagnoses and treatment,2 and emergency department closures continue to accumulate.3The pandemic was also a massive stress test for family medicine. Most FPs in Canada are self-employed andindependent and had to rapidly implement changes to theirwork to keep themselves, their patients, and their staff safe.To safely see patients in person, FPs implemented personal protective equipment (which was in short supply),improved ventilation, enhanced cleaning, passive andactive symptom screening, physical distancing in waitingrooms, and maximum office capacities. To accomplishthe latter, we were asked to rapidly shift to assessingpatients by telephone, video, or e-mail before bringingthem into the office.

[学科分类] 卫生学